Don't You Stop Believing In Me
by IMakeTheMonsters
Summary: As if parental expectations, job applications, and a boring university professor weren't bad enough, Juvia now has to deal with the most annoying crush she's ever had－on the owner of the single best voice she's ever heard in her life. Well, at least she'll always have her milkshakes.
1. Chapter 1

**_It's been a while since I've written a Fairy Tail fic, not to mention a Gruvia one. And let me tell you, I have no words to describe just how excited I am for this. I got inspired as I was watching Kurt Hugo Schneider's early videos of Sam Tsui singing, so that's where a lot of the story is going to stem from. (If you don't know who those two are, have you been living under a rock? Go search them up on youtube, they make the most amazing covers of songs.)_**

 ** _The song in this chapter is Somewhere In Neverland by All Time Low. I suggest you listen to it on youtube while you read this chapter, because it helps set the mood of the story. Hope you like it!_**

 _Synopsis: As if parental expectations, job applications, and a super boring university professor weren't bad enough, Juvia now has to deal with the most annoying crush she's ever had－on a guy with the best voice she's ever heard in her entire life. Well, at least she'll always have her milkshakes._

 **Chapter 1: The Encounter**

 **DISCLAIMER: IF I OWNED FAIRY TAIL, GRUVIA WOULD'VE BEEN CANON BY NOW**

* * *

 _Say goodbye to the halls and the classes  
_ _Say hello to a job and the taxes  
_ _The weekends with old friends spilling into 9 to 5 routine  
_ _Tell me how you feel over and done with  
_ _Like your life is a map with no compass to guide,  
_ _At the bar drinkin' way too much  
_ _We sing along to "Forever Young"._

Juvia Lockser sighs as her history professor calls for the end of class, stuffing her textbook and laptop into her bag as fast as she can and making a beeline for the door. She'd thought that this class would be interesting, but instead it's just been one boring lecture after another. Of course, there's no way she's going to drop it now, not after she's seen just how excited her single mother is at the idea of her first-born daughter acquiring a degree from the best university in the country. Still, this was never exactly what she wanted to do upon graduating high school.

Slipping her phone out of her pocket, she hits #1 on her speed dial and waits as the girl on the other end cuts the ringing short.

"Hey, Juv! Are actually still alive?" Comes the amused voice.

"Unfortunately. God, it's like that stupid professor actually _wants_ us to fall asleep in class. There are other vocal patterns besides monotone, you know," she groans back.

Lucy laughs, "Buy you a milkshake? I'll meet you out by the quad in 5." Juvia giggles back in the affirmative and heads down the hall with a just a tad more spring in her step than before at the prospect of a free milkshake. That is, until she hears the voice.

 _So here we go again  
_ _Wishin' we could start again_

At first, she thinks she's crazy. After all, no one else seems to hear the notes drifting ever so quietly in their direction. But there is something just so hauntingly intriguing about the way this music sounds, and so she finds herself following the invisible trail until she stops short at the auditorium doors.

 _Wendy run away with me  
_ _I know I sound crazy  
_ _Don't you see what you do to me?  
_ _I wanna be your lost boy  
_ _Your last chance, a better reality, yeah_

Miraculously, the bulky doors don't so much as creak as she pushes them open a crack and peeks her way in. Standing alone onstage is a boy about her age, belting his heart out into what looks like a worn-out mic on a new stand. Now, Juvia is pretty immune to good-looking guys (she's had more than her fair share of them), but there is something about the way his eyes are closed and how he's giving this melody everything he's got that makes her heart skip a beat. This, of course, has nothing to do with the fact that he's maybe the most attractive person she's ever laid eyes on in her entire life. Of course.

 _Wendy we can get away  
_ _I promise if you're with me, say the word and we'll find a way  
_ _I can be your lost boy, your last chance  
_ _Your "everything better" plan  
_ _Oh, somewhere in Neverland_

The music drifts to a close, and she's startled as a boy with the weirdest hair she's ever seen yells, "CUT!" from behind a camera setup she hadn't known was there.

"That was great, man! I don't even think we need another take," the boy with the strange hair prattles on, and Juvia is so busy watching the singer's reactions that it's not until her phone buzzes insistently in her pocket that she realizes－ _shit_ －that she's been standing there for a good 15 minutes. Her phone buzzes again, and she pulls it out to reveal another text from Lucy:

 _ **Been here for like 10 mins, where r u?**_

She types back a quick reply, thumbs flying across the screen as she glances up to make sure she hasn't been spotted.

 _ **Sorry, had to pee. B there in a sec.**_

She turns around for one last, fleeting glimpse, and slips out the heavy doors as soundlessly as she'd come.

* * *

 ** _What do you think? I personally really love this idea. I'll be updating pretty soon, as the next chapter's already in progress :)_**

 ** _Drop me a review in the box below, or PM me anytime. You guys make me love writing more than I already do._**

 ** _Losta love,_**

 ** _Tiffany, out._**


	2. Chapter 2

_**As promised, here's the next chapter. Just so you know, this is a new record for me. And sorry if the chapters are really short, but this way I'll be able to get you guys faster updates. Think of each chapter as a scene from a movie.**_

 **Chapter 2: Milkshakes, With A Side of Gossip And Curly Fries**

 **DISCLAIMER: I WISH, MAN.**

* * *

"So there's this really awesome guy in my film class. His name is Natsu, and he's so talented it's crazy," Lucy says as they gossip over a basket of curly fries and Juvia's promised milkshake. "He basically knows the name and serial number of every camera lens the professor has. I wish I was that smart," she sighs dreamily. Juvia chuckles at her ever-boy-crazy best friend.

"What does he look like?" She asks curiously.

"He always wears this white scarf with a scaly sort of pattern on it, which makes him kinda look like Spielberg, if you know what I mean," Lucy relays, and Juvia nods in understanding.

"Oh! And he has pink hair, although he _insists_ it's salmon, and－"

"WAIT!" Juvia interrupts hastily, "Did you just say he has _pink hair?_ "

"Your hair is blue," Lucy points out, "Although I guess that's pretty common in Magnolia－"

"No, it's not that," Juvia rushes on, consumed with the memory of a pink-haired boy standing behind a camera in the rows of an auditorium, "It's just… I think I've seen him before. Does he hang out with a guy with dark hair? They make videos of him singing and stuff?" An evil grin spreads across Lucy face.

"Juvia," she begins slowly, "Are you asking me about a boy? A possibly very cute boy?"

"W-what?! No!" Juvia's face turns the colour of a ripe tomato as she stutters, "It's j-just that... that I…"

"Mmm-hmmm?" Lucy can't stop cackling as her usually cool, boys-are-a-waste-of-time-unless-we're-drunk best friend struggles to complete a coherent excuse.

"Okay," Juvia sighs in defeat. "MAYBE I think his friend is a little cute. But that's not why I'm asking." Lucy raises an eyebrow, gesturing for her to continue. "I just... I heard him singing earlier today, and he's good. Really good. Maybe even competition-level good."

At this, the smile drops off Lucy's face. "Oh."

"Yeah, OH. It just… I don't know, sort of made me miss it? Or something. It's just been so long, you know?" Juvia confesses.

"Well, maybe this is a good thing? I mean, it's been such a long time since…that thing… happened. Maybe this is a sign telling you you're ready to move on." Lucy tells her hopefully.

"I don't know. I don't think I'm ever going to get over it completely," Juvia shakes her head, blue curls bouncing over her shoulders as she stands up. "We should probably get back to the dorms. It's getting late, and I have a shit ton of homework to do." Lucy sighs in return and grabs her bag and jacket from the chair beside her. The smirk is back on her face as she says over her shoulder, "And yeah, I agree with you. Gray Fullbuster really is hot." She laughs again, ducking as Juvia swings her bag in the direction of her head and shrieks in mortification, "LUCY! I told you I don't like him!"

Their laughter echoes all the way across campus.

* * *

Later that night, in between the pages of her history textbook and Lucy's snores from the next bed over, Juvia's thoughts drift back to the singer with dark hair and the reminder of the night she locked away a piece of her heart.

 _Gray Fullbuster, huh?_ She thinks to herself. _Good to know._

* * *

 ** _Drop me a review in the box below, or PM me anytime :)_**

 ** _Lotsa love,_**

 ** _Tiffany, out._**


	3. Chapter 3

_**I was actually supposed to have been doing homework all day, and I just... ugh. Social Studies is important to our education and all, but I really don't need to know everything about the physical regions of the world, thank you very much. The tundra is COLD. The plains ARE NOT. CAN WE PLEASE BE DONE NOW. (As you can tell, I'm not in the best mood today lol, sorry). Here's the newest chapter!**_

 **Chapter 3: Afternoon Strolls and Not-So-Accidental Eavesdropping**

 **DISCLAIMER: THIS IS CALLED _FAN_ FICTION FOR A REASON.**

* * *

The next few days pass by in a blur. Juvia returns to the auditorium nearly every day to see if Gray and Natsu are still at it, and they always are. At this point, Lucy's gotten pretty used to having to wait 20 minutes for her friend to show, and so takes her time getting to the quad from her Voice & Speech class every afternoon. Said pattern continues for the rest of the week; that is, until Saturday rolls around and Lucy discovers that she has a script for her Screenwriting class due in 2 days that she hasn't even started yet. Thus Juvia finds herself sitting indoors on a sunny morning consoling her space-case of a best friend and scolding her for not writing down the assignment in the first place.

"It's a miracle you remembered it at all, Lu."

"I know, I know. I'm just lucky Natsu brought it up, otherwise I totally would've failed."

Juvia's eyebrows go up at that. "Wait, _Natsu_ reminded you? Since when do you guys talk?"

Lucy flushes, "We don't! He just came over one day after class and asked if he could copy my notes because he missed some."

Juvia bursts out laughing, "Didn't you say Natsu was like the best student in your entire class? Why would he need notes in the first place if he knows everything already? Not to mention "borrowing someone's notes" is like the most overused, cliched excuse to talk to someone in all of Fiore. _You_ used to use that excuse to try and talk to Sting Eucliffe in high school all the time, remember?"

"It's not the same," Lucy protests, desperately trying to stop her as Juvia rolls over on her bed, cackling, "He liiiikkkes you!"

"W-whatever," Lucy huffs, "C'mon, I have to get this done, okay?"

Still giggling, Juvia leaves her to work, grabbing her coat and heading out the door for a quick afternoon stroll. It's well into the afternoon by now, and the sky has clouded over. It starts to drizzle as she crosses over from the dorms to the Arts building, but Juvia doesn't mind. She's always loved the rain, loves the way it washes away mistakes and leaves everything open for a second chance. _Even life,_ she adds silently to herself. Funny; even though she's managed to block it out for an entire year, she hasn't been able to get the resurfaced memory of out of her mind since Lucy brought it up days ago.

She's distracted as she continues to let her feet take her wherever they please, and she's more surprised than she should be when she finds herself standing outside the auditorium doors once again. This time however, there's none of the usual mellow tunes that Juvia finds so intriguing coming from between the cracks in the walls. Instead, all she hears is raised voices throwing unintelligible words back and forth across the echoey space. She pushes open the door, curious as to find out what on earth is going on, and sees Gray and Natsu standing head to head, arguing as if one of them punched the other's mother in the face.

"What do you _mean_ she's not coming?" Natsu bellows in exasperation.

"Exactly that! When I say she's not coming, I mean she's _not coming_! What did you want me to do, tie her up and drag her here? She has an exam in 2 days and she said she needed to study, okay?" Gray yells back indignantly.

"Well _we_ have a huge project due in less than a week, remember? Think about how much wheedling we had to do to convince our professors to let us do it together!" Natsu tugs on his scarf anxiously as he paces back and forth on the stage, footsteps creating hollow thumping sounds that reverberate down into the orchestra pit.

Gray groans, runs a hand through his hair — Juvia's heart can't help but give a little _thump_ at the sight — and says, rather wearily, "I guess we're just going to have to find someone else by tomorrow then."

"...Yeah," Natsu responds glumly, "We don't really have any other choice, do we?"

The two pack up their things; Natsu shoves his camera back into its case and grabs his laptop, and Gray gathers up the sheet music spread out on the stage and follows him out the door. When the auditorium is silent and Juvia is sure they're gone, she makes her way down the wide stairs _ **(A/N: Who designs those, anyway? I've always wondered, since they're too wide to cross with just one step, and when you're forced to take two they're too narrow and you end up almost tripping -_- )**_ and onto the stage, where a single ice-blue folder has been left forlornly behind. Even from where she's standing, Juvia can read the label; its words written out in clear, bold letters:

 **GRAY FULLBUSTER'S MIDTERM PROJECT:  
** **IF FOUND, PLEASE RETURN ASAP.**

Opening the folder reveals a stack of musical scores distinctly marked with tenor and soprano parts.

"He's doing a duet?" She murmurs to herself, leafing through the pages as the notes strike up a familiar tune in her head. She scoffs, slipping the file into the folds of her coat and heading back the way she came. _As if pop songs themselves weren't risky enough._

* * *

 _ **There you go! I should actually go do homework now... arg. Wish me luck...**_

 _ **Drop me a review in the box below, or PM me anytime! You guys make me love writing more than I already do :)**_

 _ **Lotsa love,**_

 _ **Tiffany, out.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**_I don't think I've ever been so inspired to write/update a story. Wow. Don't expect this once Spring Break ends lol, I'll probably end up going back to being a lazyass._**

 _ **Shoutout to all the amazing people who followed/reviewed last chapter! Especially to the Guest; you are probably the sweetest person I have ever met :)**_

 **Chapter 4: A Push In The Right Direction**

 **DISCLAIMER: I CAN DRAW A VERY SHITTY CAT, AND THAT'S ABOUT IT.**

* * *

The door slams shut as Juvia stomps her way into their shared dorm room. She kicks off her boots; and, removing the folder from where she's stashed it, tosses her coat aside and collapses face down on the bed with a muffled groan.

"Sooo, anything interesting happen in the hour and twenty minutes you spent outside?" Lucy beings conversationally.

Juvia's only response is to halfheartedly attempt — and fail — to toss the folder in Lucy's direction. It doesn't make it more than a few inches from where she's lying prostrate on the bed, but at this point Juvia doesn't possess enough energy to care.

Chuckling, Lucy slips out from where she's been lounging under a pile of sample screenplays, her laptop, and an absurd amount of snack wrappers for the amount of time she's been left alone. She plops herself down beside Juvia and scoops up the folder for closer inspection.

" _Don't Stop Believing,_ by Journey," she reads out loud, face lighting up as she speaks. "And it's the Glee arrangement, too! Where did you _get_ this?"

"Wi fondi ime modetoriyum afwer glei dod ip," Juvia mumbles back into the comforter.

Lucy rolls her eyes, "Can you sit up and talk to me, please?" Juvia lets out a groan and pushes herself into something that better resembles an upright position.

"I found it in the auditorium after Gray dropped it," she repeats.

Lucy raises an amused eyebrow, "You went to spy on them again?"

"Shut up," Juvia shoots back. "They were being really loud and arguing about how some girl hadn't shown up, so I went to see what was happening."

"Suuuure," Lucy teases, "That's the _only_ reason why you went into the Arts building when you're a science major — whose building, I might add, is on the _other_ side of campus."

Juvia swats her her and mutters an annoyed, "Whatever," in defeat. "My _point_ is, they've decided that they need to find a replacement for the girl by tomorrow. Meaning I need to _return_ this to them by tomorrow, which _also_ means that I have to actually _talk_ to him by tomorrow." She stuffs her face in a pillow residing innocently beside the headboard and lets out a muffled scream. "I mean, what am I supposed to say to him? ' _Oh, sorry, I was just spying on you the other day and watched closely as you dropped this_ '? I might be sort of a stalker, but I don't want him to actually _think_ that I'm one, you know?"

This is the first time Lucy's seen her best friend in so much turmoil over a boy since the 9th grade, and so she can't help but let out a poorly-concealed snicker. Then, as Juvia shoots a glare in her direction, she says quickly, "Just say you found it in the hallway or something when you were waiting for me. And didn't you say they were looking for a new singer? You _love_ this duet! And you did say that you missed singing, right?"

That sobers her up. "I honestly don't know," Juvia replies. "I mean, yeah, I miss it. Of course I do. But I'll never be as good as I used to be. I feel like going back is going to hurt me almost as badly as the accident itself."

"But you'll never know until you try, right?" Lucy plows on. "Just try it right now, I mean —"

" _Lucy._ Just _drop it_ ," Juvia interrupts forcefully. Her brows are furrowed as she stares into her hands, and her comically flustered demeanor has now completely disappeared.

Lucy starts out of her ramble rather guiltily, reaching over to give Juvia's hand a squeeze.

"Sorry," she apologizes quietly. She's gone too far now, and Lucy's painfully aware that she's just left a permanent footprint in what they both know is very dangerous territory. "Go for it whenever you're ready; I just don't want you to spend your whole life avoiding something that makes you so happy, you know?"

Juvia's expression softens as she hears Lucy's best efforts to make amends. She also knows that her best friend would never push her so hard if she didn't think it was right; and so she squeezes back and gives her a small smile.

"Yeah, I do, Luce. I know."

* * *

 _ **Sorry if there are any grammar things, I just didn't have the patience to reread and edit it a hundred times like I normally do. If you spot any, lmk in the review box, or PM anytime.**_

 _ **Lotsa love,**_

 _ **Tiffany, out.**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**HEY GUYS, IT'S A MIRACLE! I'M ACTUALLY UPDATING LOL. I'm not sure why, but a couple of days ago I got hit with a massive jolt of inspiration and now I just keep on churning out ideas. I'm halfway done the next chapter too, so you'll get another update in the next couple of days (consider it a gift ;D).**_

 _ **I apologize if there are any mistakes/I missed something in editing. Just lmk if you see anything:)**_

 **Chapter 5: Hi, My Name Is Awkward**

 **DISCLAIMER: HAVE I MENTIONED THE FACT THAT I'M BASICALLY BROKE? BECAUSE I AM. MOST OF THE TOP MANGAKAS OF THE WORLD MAKE OVER $900,000 A YEAR.**

* * *

"Juvia, _come on._ It's not like you're proposing." Lucy rolls her eyes exasperatedly as she tugs on Juvia's arm. Her best friend has never had a problem with confidence before — hell, usually _she's_ the one pushing Lucy into talking to cute boys. "Look, I'll be right next to you the whole time, okay? It'll be fine, I promise."

Juvia knows she's being irrational — this is stupid; she's never cared about how people see her, and a boy (no matter how amazing he is) shouldn't change that. She takes a deep breath, shaking herself to jar her mind out of the now embarrassingly pathetic state she's acquired, and exhales — rather loudly. Turning to where Lucy is still tapping her foot impatiently on the carpet, Juvia looks her straight in the eye and says, with as much courage as she can muster, "Let's do this."

Lucy grins, "That's my girl." The blonde pushes open the door and practically skips over to where Natsu is sprawled out over the couch across from Gray, and Juvia rolls her eyes, trying to grin around the unusually large knot of dread in her stomach. It loosens slightly, however, as she sees Natsu's face light up like a Christmas tree, pulling Lucy down onto the couch beside him as he chatters away about something that sounds suspiciously like the plot to "How to Train Your Dragon". She stands there for another moment before finally making her way over to stand behind Gray. "Um… You're Gray Fullbuster, right?"

He jumps a little, tearing his eyes away from what looks like it a signup sheet riddled with names, and lets out a surprised, "Uh, yeah?"

"Okay then… Well, I'm Juvia. Hi?" She wants to smack herself. _Get it together!_ "Um… I think this is yours." She slips the folder from under her coat and somewhat awkwardly holds it out towards him. Gray's dark eyes widen at the sight, and he practically snatches the folder out of her hands, exclaiming, "Oh my god, yeah! Where did you _find_ this?!"

"I sorta found it outside the auditorium when I was waiting for Lucy," Juvia exhales in relief when she realizes he's too caught up rifling through the pages to notice how robotic she sounds. She hesitantly moves to perch on the sofa beside him, eyes trained on his face in case there's any sign of resentment. As confident as she may seem, Juvia is nothing near a social butterfly. She's startled, however, as Gray thanks her and flashes her the most adorable grin she's ever seen.

"I honestly can't tell you how much I appreciate this," he says, and Juvia is pretty sure she's about to burst into flames. _I honestly can't tell you how much I appreciate your face,_ she wants to say, but she's also pretty sure that if she did, he'd immediately file a restraining order and never talk to her again. _Wait, what were we talking about?_

"So," she clears her throat, cautiously tucking a stray lock of cerulean hair behind her ear, "What's with the duet? Shouldn't you guys be rehearsing in a music studio rather than the student lounge?"

Gray lets out a sigh. "Well, Natsu and I were _going_ to submit a short video documentary about the process of arranging a duet for our midterm project, but the girl who was supposed to help us out has a final soon and bailed." He flaps the paper in his hand animatedly, "We've been trying to find someone to replace her, but everyone who's auditioned is either not as good a singer as she is, has no idea how to read music, or both. I seriously have no idea what we're going to do," he finishes glumly.

"Well, what about Natsu? Maybe he could do it," she suggests.

Gray bursts out into peals of laughter, pulling his knees up to his chest and cackling in a way that should've made Juvia melt— if she hadn't been so utterly mortified. _He must think you're an idiot now; way to go, me!_ She's just about to apologize for even suggesting it when Gray finally straightens, wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes in amusement.

"While I'd be the first to admit that Natsu is probably one of the most talented students in the entire media department, Flame Brain is so bad at staying on pitch he wouldn't even know what song we were trying to sing," he explains.

"Oi!" Comes the angry retort (Juvia nearly falls off the couch— she'd forgotten that Natsu and Lucy were there at all). "Just because you're better at singing doesn't mean I wouldn't remember the song, asshole!" Juvia can't help but giggle as she watches the two usually civil guys screaming insults at each other across the coffee table.

"Anyway," Gray turns back to her after a couple minutes, ignoring how Natsu is still yelling at the back of his head (Lucy, finally having enough, grabs Natsu's arm and tugs him back down to sit beside her; effectively cutting off any further complaints). "We need to find someone, and fast, because this thing needs to be filmed and ready to edit by the end of the week."

"What about you?" Natsu pipes up, "Luce said she doesn't really like to sing, but maybe you'd like to do it? I mean, we can't get you extra credit or anything, since you're not taking any arts classes, but maybe you could help us out?"

Juvia freezes. Her eyes dart over to where Lucy is excitedly making eyes at her (Juvia is too distraught at the moment to notice how Lucy's face is flushed red from the new nickname Natsu's apparently christened her with), and all she can think about is their conversation from the afternoon before.

 _You_ love _this duet! And didn't you say you missed singing?_

Juvia swallows, mouth suddenly dry. She tries to speak around the chunk of styrofoam her tongue's become, but the best response she can produce is a strangled, "Uh... um... I-I'm..."

"Hey, are you okay? Juvia?" Gray's staring at her with those intense, piercing eyes of his, Lucy's still burning holes in the side of her face, and all Juvia can think is _get away get away get away_ —

She tears herself from her place on the couch and bolts from the room.

* * *

 _ **See you next time!**_

 _ **Drop me a review in the box below or PM me whenever.**_

 _ **Lotsa love,**_

 _ **Tiffany, out.**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**So I was going to post this like a month ago, and it's literally been sitting in my files since…oh, I dunno, probably about 3 days after I posted the last chapter lol. I have no excuse, but I hope you'll forgive me and enjoy this chapter :) I worked really hard on trying to set the right mood, especially for the ending part. There's something about reading a story that just takes you into a daydream-y sort of mode, and it won't feel right until the author sets the proper tone for the scene. At least, for me, anyway.**_

 _ **Here we go! (Please keep in mind I did not grammar check this, it's going straight from my shitshow of a brain to yours, and since I'm Canadian and my laptop's language is set in US English, autocorrect and spellcheck kinda just like to fuck with me. Also I'm aware that I use way too many commas but whatever.)**_

 **Chapter 6: So Apparently Juvia Can Sing**

 **DISCLAIMER: HAVE YOU SEEN CHAPTER 499?! SORRY, BUT I DON'T THINK I'M CAPABLE OF RIPPING OUT MY OWN HEART AND THROWING IT INTO A WOODCHIPPER.**

* * *

"Juvia!" The voice behind her is panting, concerned, but all she can hear is the slap of her feet against the concrete and her shaky breaths against the crisp autumn air. Lucy finally catches up to her, grabbing her arm and jerking her to an abrupt stop.

"Juvia, holy shit, are you okay?! What happened?" Lucy is frantic, shaking Juvia's shoulders just a bit too roughly in an attempt to figure out what the _hell_ is going on.

"I just… Needed to get away," Juvia's breaths are coming in ragged gaps, and she's 75% sure she's about to have a panic attack. "I'm just gonna… Pool," she manages to get out before rushing away. Lucy lets her go, worried, but she knows it'll wear off. A good swim will calm Juvia down long enough to think, at least.

* * *

Lucy's right. Juvia doesn't know how long she's been here, but it's long enough for her fingers to start looking like prunes and her limbs to feel like jelly. Still, Juvia's never felt more alive than she does when she's swimming. Well, except for when… She groans. _Why does this stuff always come back to bite me in the ass?_ Taking a deep breath, she dunks her head underwater and comes back up again feeling revitalized. _Okay, fine. If karma isn't going to leave me alone, I may as well sort this out already._ She checks to make sure there's no one else in the natatorium ( _ **A/N: natatorium is a building or room containing a pool — I had to look up the right word for it XD)**_ , and as soon as she deems it safe, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

 _Like a small boat_

 _On the ocean_

 _Sending big waves_

 _Into motion_

 _Like how a single word_

 _Can make a heart open_

 _I might only have one match_

 _But I can make an explosion_

She starts hesitantly, words shaky as they leave her lips, and she suddenly realizes that they don't hurt. _They don't hurt at all,_ and so she opens her mouth and _sings_ as fiercely as she can.

 _And all those things I didn't say_

 _Wrecking balls inside my brain_

 _I will scream them loud tonight_

 _Can you hear my voice this time?_

Juvia's so caught up in finally letting it all out after so long that she doesn't even notice the figure that's now standing — frozen, eyes wide — by the entrance behind her. She keeps her eyes closed as she belts out the chorus, pushing her lungs to the point where she's gasping for air between every phrase.

 _This is my fight song_

 _Take back my life song_

 _Prove I'm alright song_

 _My power's turned on_

 _Starting right now I'll be strong_

 _I'll play my fight song_

The song comes softer now; Juvia feels lighter than she has in what seems like forever.

 _And I don't really care if nobody else believes_

She breathes out the last few notes, holding on to the sound of her own voice in her ears and savouring the taste of the words between her teeth.

"'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me…"

The natatorium has been silent for no longer than a breath when a loud, hollow sound echoes behind Juvia, and it takes her a second to realize that she's not alone. She spins around — water churning in her wake — and sees Gray, applauding for her like his hands are on fire and he's trying to smother the flames.

* * *

"So, you gonna tell me why you freaked out?" Gray asks. After Juvia's initial freak-out (which included a lot of baffled screaming, finger-pointing, and severe embarrassment on her part), Gray had removed his shirt (Juvia's pretty sure she's part volcano at this point) and slipped into the water beside her. He's now sitting leisurely in the shallow end of the pool, back resting against the side and arms stretched out over the edge of the deck. His legs are (as his kindergarten teacher would say) criss-cross-applesauce-d, and he watches as Juvia floats on her back a little ways away.

"You gonna tell me why you followed me here?" She shoots back, clearly avoiding the question, but Gray just smiles and humours her anyway.

"Well, I met this really cool girl this afternoon. She came in with this blonde chick named Lucy — pretty sure Natsu's obsessed with her." He shoots Juvia a sly look out of the corner of his eye as she smiles and rolls her eyes. He continues, "Natsu asked her if she wanted to sing for us but then she got scared and ran away, and then Lucy told us she was probably in the pool calming down. This girl — Juvia, I think her name was —" Juvia's giggling, and Gray grins as he plows on, "Is apparently a pretty amazing swimmer, but when she still hadn't come back almost two hours later, I got worried and went to find her. I've heard her singing, too. She has the most amazing voice I've ever heard, I mean — it's absolutely beautiful."

Juvia is quiet now, all traces of laughter gone. At some point during his playful rant she had drifted closer to where he is, and now she's sitting directly in front of him in the water with her back to the darker blue of the deep end. The expression on her face is grave as she studies her hands, eyes flashing from sadness to fear to determination, and when she finally looks up — Gray finds he can't breathe.

* * *

 _ **I will set reminders on my phone so I don't forget to upload. In regards to the last chapter, stay strong, fellow Gruvians. We will get through this. Also the smackdown in tomorrow's update is going to be fucking amazing XD and can we just think about how fucking PISSED Gajeel's going to be when he finds out? Let's hope Gray doesn't get too injured while fighting Invel, because Gajeel's going to try and kill him.**_

 _ **Gajuvia is my Brotp ;D (no ragrats)**_

 _ **Thanks for reading! Drop me a review in the box below, or PM me anytime.**_

 _ **Lotsa love,**_

 _ **Tiffany, out.**_


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